From the Northumberland (Canada) news, December 27, 2007:
Visitations
for Brittany Wilson, who was killed after the vehicle her 28-year-old mother, Nicky, was
driving careened into an icy pond on Dec. 24, will be held at Mackey Funeral Home, 33 Peel
St. in Lindsay, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 28.
Durham
Regional Police say the child was riding home with her mother, Nicky, 28, in the family
pickup truck shortly before 8 p.m. when they hit ice on Regional Road 12 east of Hwy. 12.
The vehicle lost control, skidded sideways off the road and landed on its roof in a pond.
Several passing motorists stopped immediately after the crash and rushed to help.
“He was down there, dragging Nicky out,” she said. “The truck was upside-down in
about three feet of water. Nicky was screaming, ‘I’m not leaving my daughter’. She
got her own seat-belt off, but she couldn’t get Brittany’s undone.”
3/17/06. WHNT News Channel 19 (posted on the internet).
March 17, 2006. Couple Dies After Truck Runs Into Tennessee River. Newschannel 19's Tom
Woodward reports: A Waterloo couple drowned after their truck ran off the road into the
Tennessee River around 3:30 Friday afternoon. Dive teams recovered the truck and the
bodies of Earl and Barbara White Friday night from about 20 feet of water. According to
the Waterloo Police Department, the White's truck went off the end of Main Street into the
river. A fisherman saw the accident and tried to help. Waterloo Police Chief Paul Norman
says the fishermen tried to get them out of the truck. Norman said "He tried with
great effort to get them out but couldn't. They both had their seatbelts on and he tried,
but he couldnt get them out."
10.79 (newspaper unknown) "My aunt and uncle died in a fiery auto crash when a speeding car hit them from the rear. The impact caused the fire that killed them Had they not been wearing seat belts, they would both have been able to get out of the car alive.
Bloomington IL. A seat belt contributed to her fatal injury in a highway accident last month, a County coroner's pathologist said. Testimony showed Oldeen had to be cut from her seat belt and shoulder harness after her car was struck from behind by a four-wheel drive vehicle and broadsided by a semi.trailer. Dr. L. Kohau told a coroner's jury that the woman died of massive internal bleeding from a large star -shaped cut on her liver. (seat belt buckle?)
10.107 East Peoria Courier, IL Police
said the accident should have been worse than it was. Bolten's seat belt broke or came off
when the collision occurred, throwing her into the back seat. "We don't know what
would have happened if the seat belt stayed on," said Cates. "By how far the
door was pushed in, she probably would have been hurt worse".
England-6 New Scientist, 2-7-85 Evidence that the wearing of a seat belt may not even save lives has been hushed up by Britain's Dept of Transport An internal report, which is still confidential, says that the introduction of a new law making the wearing of seat belts compulsory in other European countries has not led to a detectable change in road-death rates. Indeed, the report says that the legislation might actually increase injuries.
England- 7 Birmingham Post, 4-24-84
A
19-year-old died after he was engulfed in flames as he struggled to unfasten his car seat
belt. The three other occupants watched helplessly as Mr. Robert Merchant tried to free
himself, and he died later from burns. "He just couldn't get the seat belt undone. In
the end it burned through as he tried to pull himself out." ..."The car went
over. It came to a stop and we all asked if everybody was OK. We all said we were,"
said Mr. O'Connor. "But then the car just went up in flames. I was the last one out
but for Robert. He was shouting "help me. I can't get the seat belt off me." We
couldn't help him, the belt was too much.
England-8 Daily Mirror, 3-2-83 ( 1 ) Angry driver Terence Hudson claimed that the new clunk-click law almost cost him his life. For he was badly burned after being trapped by his seat belt at the wheel of his blazing van. Terence hadjust picked up some supplies when smoke began billowing from the engine. Within seconds the van was engulfed in flames. Terence swerved off the road and frantically clawed at the seat belt release, but it was stuck fast. Finally, he managed to wriggle free and was dragged clear by a passer -by. As he recovered in the hospital from burns he hit out at the compulsory wearing of seat belts. "I'll never used to wear one, " he revealed. " And I wouldn't be in here now if it wasn't for the new law.
England-8 (newspaper unknown) (2. ) A woman...in France was strangled by her seat belt.., The woman was in the passenger seat of a car driven by her husband when the car skidded off the road into a ditch. She turned to protect her children in the back seat and was strangled by the seat belt,
England-8 Sunday Express, 10-28-86 (3) Karen Bilsborough put her foot on the accelerator instead of the brake. (the vehicle) plunged down an embankment and was hit by two high-speed trains.First London-Glasgow sleeper hit the back of the car, then a goods train sheared it in half. But amazingly, 20-year-old Karen and her boyfriend escaped with only slight injuries. Ian managed to scramble out of the car but Karen was trapped by her safety belt and was still in the car when the first train smashed into it.
England-9 Daily Mail, 8-28-85 A horrifying new
truth is facing motorists and passengers: Your seat belt can hang you. Cases of hangman's
fracture - the way a neck is snapped by a hangman's noose- are appearing in car accidents.
The cause, say doctors in Canada, France, and Britain, is linked to compulsory seat belt
wearing.
10.140 New York Times, NY, 3-26-92 Newnan, GA, March 25 -A jury rejected a lawsuit by the family of a 21 year-old woman who was decapitated by her automatic shoulder harness in a car accident.
10.153.1 (newspaper unknown), 2-27-91
Long Beach -Two people were killed when their compact car exploded in flames following a
three-car collision on the San Diego Freeway. Both the driver and a passenger were trapped
inside the burning car after it ricocheted off two other vehicles and slammed into a
concrete lane divider
10.154 Washington Post, 1-29-91 The collision occurred as Bauer, several family members and a friend were riding to a Christmas Eve program at Their car was stuck from behind,..by a car that Tata was driving, D.C. police said Bauer. who was wearing a seat belt; suffered internal injuries and died at Washington General
Hospital Center. Tata ran from the scene.
10.155 Excerpt from testimony by Lawrence Dodge, Montana, 1988, given under oath in defense of his challenge of a seat belt ticket: "In a nutshell, I fear for my life when restrained in a vehicle. I would not be alive today had I been wearing a seat belt in a large sedan with I crashed into an embankment and rolled several times down a mountain road in 1959. The entire top of the car was crushed down onto the front seat I had I not been able to dive literally across the car and tuck myself under the dashboard at the last second, 1'd have been crushed.
10:164 Buffalo News,NY) 10-28-85
It was ironic that the Raupps who were riding in a large car and wearing belts, were killed. The cousins, in spite of the fact they were riding In a small car and wearing no seat belts, survived.
10.164 SyracuseHeraldAmerican, 9-1~85 She and her sister-in-law were trapped in the front seat. In the rear seat, Benedict's 37 year~old daughter has broken her pelvis and was unable to move. Then they used a knife to cut Knickerbocker's seat belt, which jammed. Moments later, the woman's car was in flames.
10.165 (newspaper unknown) Buffalo, NY. A
Rochester man died after he became trapped in his burning car because he apparently could
not unbuckle his seat belt, state police said. Morrision pulled the car onto the shoulder
of the road. As he struggled to get his seat belt undone and get out of the car, the
vehicle burst into flames, troopers said. The three other passengers said they also had
trouble with the lap belts in the car, but they managed to escape with minor bums.
"They (the seat belts) almost killed me, and they killed my brother".
10.l08 San Diego Tribune, 2-25-87
Capener
stopped, expecting the car to slow down. It didn't and hit Capener's car, slamming the
door. Capener wasn't wearing his seat belt for which he is thankful. "If I'd have
been wearing a seat belt, I'd be in a hospital" Capener said. "Maybe I wouldn't
even be in a hospital. The car was totaled and the door is covering more than half the
seat where I was sitting." When Capener saw that he couldn't avoid the accident, he
jumped toward the passenger's side.
10.110 (newspaper unknown) Idaho. (note: "newspaper unknown" means that the person who sent in the clipping did not specify which paper it was from). We rushed to the car, pulled the door open. He was pinned down with his chest touching his knees. We could have gotten him out but his seat belt was done up and we couldn't get to the release. Suddenly, fire was everywhere. That young man, yelling and screaming, burned to death as we watched! None of us had a knife to cut the belt and he burned to death before we could get something. The belt killed him!
10.112 San Diego Tribune, 7-21-90 (letter to ed) Consider a recent accident of a young driver without a seat belt who fell asleep. His car left the highway, it hit a rock which sprang his left door, then diverted to the right and threw him out sliding along the highway, hurt but alive and fully recoverable. The empty car continued and finally hit a big rocky mountainside and was completely demolished. Had he been strapped in he would have not have survived..
10.115 Chicago Tribune, 1-13~87 . Chicago Fire Dept scuba divers found the man's body Monday morning strapped inside the submerged car...
10.122 Letter sent to Minnesota Civil Liberties Union, 3-22-&5, by Linda Schelinder I am writing to voice my objection to the proposed "mandatory seatbelt law". I personally am alive today because I was involved in a car accident in which I did not wear my seatbelt. I was 5 months pregnant at the time and my (future) daughter is alive also because I chose not to wear a seatbelt. A truck hit me with such force that it pushed the dash right into the front seat back rests. Luckily I did not have a passenger with me, for the passenger would have been cut in two. As for me there was only one place to be in the front seat to survive the crash and that was to slide way over tight against the driver's door and down towards the floor. Had I had a seatbelt on I wouldn't have been able to make that move and I would have been killed or seriously injured by the dash of the car. Also, there is no doubt in anyone's mind that my unborn child would have been killed too.
A 31-year-old woman and her infant daughter died in a pickup truck which burst into flames as the woman's husband tried to free his family from the vehicle. His wife, Lucie, and 20-month-old daughter, Katie, were passengers in the truck and both died in the fire. Morgan said the truck fIrst began to backfire and stall. As the vehicle slowed down, he looked in the rearview mirror and saw flames coming from the rear of the truck and smelled smoke in the cab, he said. By the time he stopped the truck, flames were coming from under the truck up the sides of the vehicle. Morgan said. Morgan got out of the driver's door and ran to the passenger side, where he attempted to get the door open and get his wife and daughter out of the truck, but he was unable to open the door, he told the deputy . Beating on the truck and passenger window, Morgan noticed his own clothing was in flames and said he dropped to the ground and began rolling to extinguish the flames. He remembered nothing further. When sheriffs deputies arrived at the burning truck, the Godfrey Fire Dept. was already at the scene and attempting to extinguish the flames which engulfed the vehicle.When the fire was extinguished the bodies of Mrs. Morgan and the baby were found in the cab, the child still strapped in a car seat next to the passenger door and the mother in the middle seat position in the cab. (Both) burned beyond recognition.
10.169 (newspaperunknown)NY (1) Pressure on the neck from his seat belt's shoulder harness caused the cardiac arrest that killed Gabriel Sunson, 7, in a one-car accident, a Chemung County medical examiner ruled Monday. (Dr.) Nigogosyan compared the strap's impact on the boy's throat with a certain karate blow.
10.169 (newspaper unknown) (2) East Meadow. L.I., (UPI)- A woman died of internal injuries caused by the seat belt, the medical examiner says.
10.169 (newspaper unknown) (3) Depoe Bay, OR (AP) -DeanaTegner, 46 survived a 100 foot plunge in her car onto a beach from a highway cutting across rugged cliffs Wednesday and said later she probably would have been crushed if she has been wearing a seat belt.
10.174 (comments attached to a photo of an accident) Allen was thrown free of the vehicle before it wrapped itself around the tree. He stood up and walked away from the accident. Allen and his two children are very glad that he was not strapped in a seat belt.
10 .175 During a press Conference, the Institute For Injury Reduction released information that clearly shows some of the potential dangers of using the new automatic seat belts.
10.176 (newspaper unknown) CA Inglewood, (AP)- The 59 year-old Shoemaker broke his neck when his vehicle careened off a freeway and tumbled down a steep embankment. His upper and lower extremities were paralyzed. Shoemaker was wearing a seat belt.
l0.179 (newspaper unknown) A Council Bluffs woman's decision not to wear a seat belt may have saved her life when her truck went off Interstate 29 and overturned. Hatcher had to be freed from the wreckage by rescue workers. Reports (Sheriffs) said the roof of the cab was totally collapsed. The fact that she was not wearing a seat belt "probably saved her life," reports said. Hatcher was cited
for failure to control her vehicle.
10.180 Times Republic, IA, 1-2-92 A woman survived a horrifying 11 hours trapped in a submerged car thanks to a tiny air pocket. If she has gone more feet into the freezing-cold water, or if she had been wearing a seat belt, Lydia O'Neal would have died, say police.
10.181 Omaha World-Herald NE (letter to ed) "I, myself, am frightened at buckling up my seat belt. In my thousands of miles traveled through many foreign countries, three times I have seen death caused because the victims could not unbuckle themselves. In one accident, the door was open but with broken wrists, the passengers could not get out and two burned to death .I could not get close enough to help because of the fire."
10.192 San Diego Daily Transcript, 7- 7-86 Yreka, CA (UP) A judge is disrnissing citations for violation of the state's seat belt law as unconstitutional. He said seat belts may be dangerous and probably would have cost him his life had he been strapped in. was spared by being throws underneath the dashboard as his car hit a patch of ice and overturned atop a concrete divider.
10.198 LaCrosse Tribune, 6-17-93 Edna Klinsski, 75, of Caledonia, Minn. Died last Thursday in a traffic accident after she tried to leave her car and became entangled in the seat belt and was asphyxiated, Houston County Coroner said.
10.219 (newspaper unknown) NE Alan was killed in a 2:40 p.m. accident, Nebraska State Patrol Sgt. Bob Veal said. The car left Interstate 80 and rolled over two and a half times, landing on its hood, Veal said. (Note: The driver (wife) was not wearing a seatbelt and survived the accident. Alan was wearing one and died. (WJH).
10.218 Omaha World-Herald, 8-23-89 Shorty Vest -"I don't know if other short people have as much trouble as I do with seat belts, but they restrict movements. I can't turn my body much at all. This complicated some three years ago when he developed carpal tunnel syndrome, a blocking of the channel that carries the nerve to the hand. "One night, one horrible night," he said, "I got home in the wee hours about 1:30. I stopped the car in the driveway and pushed the release to get out of the seat belt. It didn't work. I just didn't have the strength to push it far enough. There I was, trapped." After 25 minutes of imprisonment, a strength borne of desperation enabled him to release himself.
Westport. Conn. Feb. 27- the deserted parking lot at Compo Beach is a favorite practice ground for beginning drivers in winter, and on Sunday morning it attracted Thomas P. Puccio. the prominent defense lawyer, and his 16-year-old son, Matthew, who was visiting him for the weekend. But a missed turn during the lesson apparently led to a common beginner's mistake - stepping on the accelerator instead of the brake -and their Mercedes-Benz station wagon plunged down an embankment into the waters of a yacht basin. Mr. Puccio, who not wearing a seat belt, escaped when pressure blew out a window of the sinking car. His son, wearing a seat belt, was trapped behind the steering wheel and drowned.
Clay Center (AP) A Keamey girl was killed after the car she was driving flipped and rolled into a water-filled ditch, drowning her, police said. ...She was trapped in the car and downed, officials said. Hams was wearing a seat belt.
10.300 Indianapolis Star, IN, 4-14-99 A
van carrying his three children blew a tire, swerved out of control and plunged into a
canal. All three children drowned. ...The family was driving home when the van driven by
the children's uncle lost control after the (tire) blowout. The father was driving ahead.
He stopped and rushed toward the van to see its front end tipped into the water. Ellis
jumped in the water but never reached the children. They were strapped inside the van. The
children's uncle escaped by taking off his seat belt and wriggling out of the van's
window. Michael Ellis said he saw the children trying to free themselves from their seat
belts as the water poured in. "I couldn't help any of the children," he said
"I tried but I couldn't because of the seat belts. "
10.309 "Cost of seat belt-related whiplash injuries rising" Canadian Medical Association Journal, May 18, 1999. Dr. Charles Galasko, professor of orthopedic surgery, University of Manchester, in an address during the recent Whiplash Association Disorders Worl.d Congress, Vancouver, noted that the number of patients with whiplash~related complaints more than tripled the year after seat belts were introduced in the UK in 1983. He also said awareness of the significance and impact of whiplash has been influence by under-recording and misclassification. Also, he said as many as 45% of whiplash patients in the UK are not included in national injury data and suggested that there are probably close to 250,000 new whiplash patients in the UK every year. In the US, he said, the total probably approaches 1 million cases. http://www.cma.ca/cmaj/vol-160/issue-10/1425b.htm
10.310 In a letter dated 2-9-93 from Nackey Loeb, president and publisher, The Union Leader, Manchester, NH, is the following comment: "P.S. For your interest, I am paralyzed, in a wheelchair, due to an automobile accident. It was the fact that I was not wearing a seat belt that the accident did not kill me. II
10.312 Omaha-World-Herald NE 2-3-93 "Two watch helplessly as man dies" Two passing drivers said Tuesday that they tried to save an Omaha man who was trapped in his burning car Monday night. But the man died as they watched helplessly. Daniel Hardy, 40, ofWahoo and Jim Ringle, 28, of Freemont came upon the single-car crash on US highway 275... "I've seen a lot of traumatic things in the course of my 20 years of nursing practice and I have never felt as helpless as I felt in that particular situation," said Hardy, who is a registered nurse... "That's the spooky thing," said Ringle, a welder... 'We talked to the guy, and he was conscious. And then he wasn't... It was nothing I'd ever seen before, and I thought about it all night. " Krause (the victim) was alone heading east on US 275. He lost control of
the car for an unknown reason and crossed the center land. Douglas County sheriffs Lt. Hammer said The car struck a tree, spun in mid air and rolled into a dry creek bed, coming to rest on its roof.
Hardy gave this account: Hardy was driving west on US 275 and had just passed under the Nebraska 21 overpass when he saw a flickering orange glow reflected off trees in a ravine. He got out of his car and saw the overturned car. Hardy flagged down another driver to summon help. Then Ringle drove up and he and Hardy went through the brushy area to the creek bed. "Is there anyone in that car?" Ringle yelled "Yeah, I'm in here!" a voice called out. "Get help fast! Help me! Hurry ! I can't get out of my seat belt." Ringle kicked at the partly open door, trying to open it further. Hardy reached in but couldn't free the man, who was upside down. Hardy was forced back by the heat and watched helplessly as the flames spread inside the car. Krause lost consciousness. Ringle and Hardy stepped back about 20 yards as the flames engulfed the car. Said Hardy, "You'll always wish you could have done something".
Authorities are expected to upgrade charges against Melvin Hale, a 72-year-old retired rancher who is now jailed in lieu of $1 million bond on a charge of attempted murder of a Police officer. The charges will probably be upgraded to capital murder. As Hale was being escorted to jail he admitted to reporters that he shot Vetter. "I did it," he said, "I'm a law-abiding citizen. I like to drive down the road without being arrested."
CA-15 (newspaper unknown) Yreka, CA (UP)
A judge is dismissing citizens for violations of the state seat belt law on the ground
that it is an unconstitutional interference with personal rights. The rulings by Judge
Ross Bigler have been appealed Siskiyou Superior Court. Bigler said he has tossed out
citations against four defendants in recent months. He said seat belts may be dangerous
and probably would have cost him his life had he been strapped in during an automobile
accident five years ago. Bigler said he was spared by being thrown underneath the
dashboard as his car hit a patch of ice and overturned atop a concrete divider.
"People have a right to make their decision (on seat belts) for themselves," he
told the Sacramento Bee. Lawmakers cannot legally "make a law saying everyone must
conform just because it's good for you."
England-l 0 Daily Express, 9-10-84
Two party-goers drowned while trapped by seat belts in the front seat of a car which crashed into the River Way. Four back seat passengers smashed their way out of the rear window and were helped to safety , but attempts to rescue the driver and front seat passenger failed The bodies of Susan Lons and Richard Jones had to be cut free by firemen. Mr. Elliott said, "I went after the young man and woman in the front but I could not get them because they still had their seat belts on." Ambulance man Dodson told of his desperate struggle to free the girl, hanging upside down under water
England-36 Daily Telegraph, 10-23-85
Mr. Smith was
traveling on the north-bound carriageway when he saw the accident happen and jumped over
the central barriers to help. Mr. Smith tried to operate the door of a blazing car with a
man and woman inside. The man was very calm and did not scream. He just held up his hands
and pleaded: 'Get me out, please.' By
this time his wife was on fire. As he pleaded, he was set on fire. "I (Mr. Smith) had
to turn away. I couldn't watch them die. There was nothing I could do..." (NOTE: The
person who sent this newspaper clipping, wrote: 'On BBC Breakfast TV , (Mr. Smith) stated
how the car door was jammed; he broke the window, but the couple could not undo their seat
belts. The newspaper account did not mention that fact.'
England-37 Express Star, 5-18-85
A policeman dragged a screaming woman from a blazing car after her seat belt jammed.
Sandra Garrett was trapped in the car as flames roared from the bonnet.
"It was terrible. I was so frightened, " she added " but I just could not free myself. I don't know
what would have happened if the policeman had not arrived". Sandra said he (policeman) fought
through the flames and grabbed hold of her, pulling her out of the belt.
England--38 Croydon Advertiser, 12-13-85 ...
A reckless driver who helplessly watched his best friend trapped in the blazing inferno of his wrecked sports car is still haunted by the nightmare death crash. But because the teenage motorist was not wearing a seat belt, he was . thrown clear when his Fiat Sports car hurled into a lamp post and burst into flames, said Mr. Keith Salvesen prosecuting at Inner London Crown Court. But his friend who had been wearing a seat belt, was trapped in the blazing car.
EngIand-39 (newspaper unknown)
Mrs. Fearon, however, had remained trapped inside her mini while it was on fire. The window was open and he attempted to release Mrs. Fearon from her seat belt but without success and was beaten back by the flames.
England-50 Buckinghamshire Advestiser, 5-12-84 Rescuers tried frantically to dray a man from his blazing car after a crash but he was trapped by his seat belt. Mr. Kelly, 21, said a few moments passed and he realized that the lorry was not going to move out. Then it rammed into the back of the car which exploded. He said, "I stopped my car and ran back to see what I could do. Somebody smashed the windshield and we tried to pull the man through it but he was held in by his seat belt. At one point the person inside tried to get out of the door but he couldn't make it. We couldn't open the door because it was buckled. Soon he stopped moving.
Consultant pathologist told the inquest that Mr. Heggie's limbs and chest had been very severely burnt, but that he had died from breathing smoke.
England;.50 Daily Mail, 3-18-85 A driver was killed and his wife and son were inj ured when a car being chased by the police collided with theirs. Mrs. Pat Meades said "I thought it was pretty disgusting. Neighbors cut the belt to get the couple out. "
(From an email message dated 6-6-03
The MetroWest Daily News Fanningham, Mass.
Letter: Seat Belts are a fraud
I was directly involved with the investigation of the settlements and evaluations of automobile injury Claims for nearly 17 years.
I took a11 manner of courses and seminars, spoke at length with orthopedic specialists and read most of the publicity available information on clinical experience with seat belts. They are a fraud on the public, in my opinion.
Seat belts were an experiment by the auto manufacturers in the early 1980s The companies initially had only the lap strap. So far as I was able to tell, they were a failure from the start. Seat belts have evolved from lap straps to fancier items these days, but they are just as dangerous.
In an accident,situation, they are supposed to tighten up and hold you safe and secure, You have heard a lot about "shaken baby syndrome" in the last few decades, but this is not exclusive to babies. There is no clear evidence that seat belts save lives and no clear evidence that they minimize injury .
To the contrary , a whiplash injury
definiteIy causes damage similar to the shaken baby syndrome. If you are hit from behind
and are without a seat belt, you may break your nose as you roll forward and strike your
head on the steering wheel, but if confined by belts the G- forces snap your head and neck
back and forth far more violently and can cripple you for 1ife if it fails to kill you
outright.
10.312 Omaha-World-Herald, NE. 2-3-93 "Two watch helplessly as man dies" Two passing drivers said Tuesday that they tried to save an Omaha man who was trapped in his burning car Monday night. But the man died as they watched helplessly. Daniel Hardy, 40, of Wahoo and Jim Ringle, 28, of Freemont came upon the single-car crash on US highway 275. "I've seen a lot of traumatic things in the course of my 20 years of nursing practice and I have never felt as helpless as I felt in that particular situation," said Hardy, who is a registered nurse. "That's the spooky thing," said Ringle, a welder "We talked to the guy, and he was conscious. And then he wasn't. It was nothing I'd ever seen before, and I thought about it all night. " Krause (the victim) was alone heading east onUS 275. He lost control of the car for an unknown reason and crossed the center lane, Douglas County sheriffs Lt. Hammer said. The car struck a tree, spun in midair and rolled into a dry creek bed, coming to rest on its roof. Hardy gave this account: Hardy was driving west on US 275 and had just passed under the Nebraska 21 overpass when he saw a flickering orange glow reflected off trees in a ravine. He got out of his car and saw the overturned car . Hardy flagged down another driver to summon help. Then Ringle drove up and he and Hardy went through the brushy area to the creek bed. "Is there anyone in that car?" Ringle yelled "Yeah, I'm in here!" a voice called out. "Get help fast! Help me! Hurry! I can't get out of my seat belt. " Ringle kicked at the partly open door, trying to open it further. Hardy reached in but couldn't free the man, who was upside down. Hardy was forced back by the heat and watched helplessly as the flames spread inside the car. Krause lost consciousness. Ringle and Hardy stepped back about 20 yards as the flames engulfed the car. SaidHardy, "You'll always wish you could have done something."
10.320 The Seattle Times: 8.12.02
"Drivers couldn't free 3 crash victims"
Fikret Attila remained in critical condition yesterday following Saturday's fiery, two-vehicle accident on northbound Interstate 405, which killed his wife and two daughters. The crash occurred at 6:22 p.m. just south of Northeast 160th St., in Bothell. Sarah K. Potts, 25, of Bothell, driving a 2002 Ford Explorer, rear-ended the Fikret's 1988 four-door Honda Accord, which had stalled and was partially in the right lane. The Honda burst into flames. Witnesses said Atila, 40, who had been driving, was pulled from the burning car but his family was trapped inside as other drivers who ran to help tried frantically but unsuccessfully to cut their seatbelts. Badly burned, Atila lay in shock on the side of the road while drivers attempted to comfort him. Others tried to put out the fire with handheld fire extinguishers. By the time time fire trucks and paramedics arrived, which witnesses estimated took 10 minutes, they could not reach those trapped in the car. Greg McCormack, of Bothell, on his way home from a picnic with his wife, said the scene was horrific.
IA-6 Des Moines Register, 10-18-87 Colman said a 16-year-old relative from Hamboldt recently was killed in an auto accident even though he was wearing a seat belt. The driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, survived the crash, he said.
NJ-2 Star Leger (letter to ed), 1-11-90 I must say, point out, that seat belts are not always a good idea. My experience shows that they can sometimes be deadly. I was in an accident in 12-30-89. I was a passenger in a car that was broadsided by a pickup truck The entire side of the car was crushed as the truck hit us from the side and basically drove over us. If.I has been wearing a seat belt, you would not be reading this letter now since my body would have been crushed
WI-2 (letter 4-4-84) I can personally confirm an accident in which my nephew came very close to being killed. He quickly served to the left to avoid a collision. His auto overturned two and one half times and came down over a fence post that came through the driver side window in front of the steering wheel. He was not strapped in a seat belt and was thrown free of his seat and crawled out through a broken window and survived the accident. I can quote another accident. It was two-auto, head-on collision. One auto carried 6 persons. All were strapped in seat belts, all were killed. The other auto carried 3 persons. None were wearing the safety belt. Those 3 persons survived the accident and appeared before a court for violation of the mandatory seat belt law. (NOTE: Here, again, survive an accident only because you didn't use a seat belt and the government will punish you for not dying in the accident using a government mandated so- called safety seat belt harness! )
Canada-5 (Maclean's magazine. 10.286) Ontario
In Apri11970. West of Woodstock, Ontario, two cars collided head-on. In one car, 6 persons wore seat belts. In the other car, 3 persons were not buckled. The 6 buckled persons were killed. The autopsies revealed they died from severe injuries to the abdomen caused by the seat belts. The other 3 did not wear a seat belt and survived. Dr. Blackwood (coroner) declares that the Province of Ontario should be prosecuted before the Courts for its murderous mandatory seat belt law. And he adds that it is ironical to see that the 3 person who did not wear a seat belt at the accident, and who were not killed because of it are the ones who have been brought before the Courts by the Ontario Provincial Police (for violation of the seat belt law).
England-5 Daily Mail, 7-29- 76
Two men burned to death in their crushed car, trapped by theirtheir safety belts. The story was told at an inquest in Newark, Nottinghamshire, where would-be rescuers said they tried to save the men but could not unlock the belts. Miner Mr. Allen Atlas of Toiney Lane, Newark, told the inquest that he saw the driver's trousers catch fire, then his hair. "I tried to drag him through his seat belt, but was unable to do so. I tried to unfasten the belt, but I was getting burned."
England-5 Daily Mail, 5-12-77 Not wearing a seat belt saved the life of Mrs. Carolyn Lewis. Mrs. Lewis was sitting next to the driver. The car left the road and hit a fence. Mrs. Lewis was able to twist to one side as a concrete post came through the windshield past the spot were she had been sitting and decapitated the passenger sitting behind her.
2.9 Chicago Tribune, Illinois, 3-2-86 "Ten years ago I was living in New York and my car caught fire from an electrical short
somewhere under the hood. Had I been wearing a seat belt, I never would have had the chance to get out." observed one man.
(10.15.1) U.S. News & World Report, 8-25-86 When the van carrying 11 pre-schoolers crashed head-on into a sedan the five children with no
seat belts walked away with a few scratches. Five others, all wearing lap belts, sustained severe head, spinal cord and abdominal injuries. One died.
She was on her way to a shopping center in Raleigh when a , tractor-trailer came loose from the cab, came across the median and hit her head on. If she had been wearing a seat belt, she would have been crushed to death. The impact threw her over in the seat. The steering wheel was bent where she had been sitting. It was several weeks before she could be active. But today, she is all right "Please give me the choice to wear a seat belt or not. Don't make it a law".
10-27 Tampa Tribune, FL 2-7-87 St. Petersburg -A woman. whose car veered off the approach to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and plunged into Tampa Bay died about six hours later, officials said. In a slow, swirling current near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the 35 year-old woman. had survived underwater for almost seven minutes as two fishermen and rescue workers tried to untangle her from her seat belt. "It went down nose first, " he said. "I was on top of it I just couldn't get to her. I heard a thump and then I seen a car coming through the air," he said. "She didn't say anything. She was frozen to the steering wheel when they took her out. They had to cut the seat belt".
10.34 The Union Leader, NH, 1.0-3-86 (Letter ed.) A van carrying 15 passengers, buckled up in their seat belts, was in a collision that ended with the van overturned and burning. Four passing motorists stopped to help, one entered the buming van and with a hunting knife cut the seat belts of the shackled passengers while the other three men dragged the released victims to safety. After saving eight the spreading flames prevented them saving any more. All the four heroes could do was watch the seven burn to death.
When the police and medics found Pillman Monday night moments after taking a 40-foot fall from being ejected as the vehicle rolled, he had lost so much blood that those who found him believed he wasn't going to make it. He was in the burns unit early in the week and originally in Intensive Care. His condition was quickly upgraded. He also felt fortunate the injuries weren't worse and that, for whatever reason, he wasn't wearing his seat belt at the time he rolled the humvee after striking a tree stump in a field. The vehicle was destroyed and he was told by police that had he been wearing his seat belt and not been thrown that he would have been crushed inside the vehicle.
Two weeks ago there was a violent private plane crash near the town of West Union, IA. Having my well-trusted relatives that live just a few miles from the crash site I am privy to some very interesting news. The catastrophic crash sent the aircraft cartwheeling over a field and eventually bursting into flames. On board was a family of four and the plane's pilot. All in the craft were burned alive in the wreckage... except for one 11 year old girl who ran from the wreckage. She survived but suffered severe burns. Never the less, she survived. Care to guess which one was NOT wearing her seat belt?
I got your e-mail about the small plane crash.
Here is another true story. A few years ago in the U.S. a commercial airliner crashed on take off. There were 163 people on board and 162 of them were killed. The only survivor was the one person on the plane that was not wearing a seat belt. The so-called safety experts even reluctantly admitted that the one survived because they were not wearing a seat belt. It should also be noted the plane crashed on takeoff and was not going 500 mph.
Another true story took place in Canada. Two vehicles collided. There were 9 people in the 2 vehicles. Six of them were wearing seat belts and 3 were not. Six people were killed. You guessed it, the 6 people wearing seat belts were killed. The 3 survivors had to up before the judge and answer for breaking the law! The coroner that examined the bodies said in his opinion the seat belts is what caused their death.
Teacher Saves Child Nearly Strangled by Seatbelt Girl expected to recover Columbus, Ohio, April 5, 2005
Police said a teacher at a child care center saved a
girl who was nearly strangled by a seatbelt on Tuesday morning. The 1 year old girl
apparently became tangled in her seatbelt, NBC 4 reported. A teacher at Kindercare,
located on Hard Road, gave the child CPR. The girl was transported to a hospital and was
expected to survive.
From an article entitled "Non Nobis Sed Aliis", by Brian Wilson, Talk Show Host, ABC Radio Networks, received by e-mail March 14, 2005:
I won't bore you with the gory details of being forced into a highway barrier at 70+mph by a weaving 18-wheeler. Suffice to say, my car split in half, did a 360, tossing your humble writer across the highway into a ditch, landing with a neck broken in three places and few other lacerations and contusions. Had I been wearing a seat belt, this article wouldn't be nearly as entertaining since my half of the car stopped quite suddenly, thanks to a conveniently located concrete wall. The impact relocated the driver's seat to the trunk. Had I been buckled in, I would have been a bright red stain on that wall and you would be reading someone else's work in this space.
From an e-mail received February 5, 2005: An anecdote: Before there were mandatory seat belt laws, when my two kids were little, my family of four was driving along a main shopping street in upstate New York when a senile driver coming in the other direction suddenly turned left in front of us. We hit that car broadside. My husband was driving, I was in the front passenger seat, my juvenile children (son and daughter) side by side in the rear seat. None of us were wearing seatbelts, which were quite new then, although I believe that car had them. My husband's head hit and bent the frame surrounding the front window, my head smashed a star pattern in the front window, the kids bounced off the back of the front seat. The police took us all to the hospital. The only thing I remember from that incident, which we all went home from that evening, is my conversation with the doctor who examined me. As soon as I arrived at the hospital, the doctor asked me "Were you all wearing seat belts?". And I replied, "No, we were not." "Good," said the doctor. "Then I will not have to worry about internal injuries." Ever since then, I have felt kind of dubious about buckling up. Nancy Mathis
From an e-mail received February 6, 2005: (reproduced as received): my wife was involved in a wreck yesterday,she hit a telephone pole and totaled her 2003 corolla she was not wearing a seatbelt and lived! she dislocated her kneecap but better her kneecap than her neck.she was saved by god and the crumpel zone technolegy i believe she would not have been helped by the seatbelt and possibly hurt worse by it. all we could hear from everyone was how she was lucky to be alive without wearing her seatbelt so i said to them that i would hate to be so dumb as to think she could have came out any better,can't people just be glad along with me that my wife lived! i guess they think if she had wore her belt she would have plowed a pole up to her windshield and jump out talking about the weather but it just showes how submissive everyone has become and how the governments plan for dependance on them and their advice is working. some people think that seatbelts are the holey grale of wreck survival due to bais media coverage and doctered numbers. it gets more discoraging every day to me because it seems were loseing. i am starting to think the only way to win is to team up with the motercycle people. they are many more states without helment laws than without seatbelt laws so what are they doing? or maybe do the reverse and try to make motercycles illegal since with or without helments you wreck your dead. talk about a revolution get the motercycle people fired up and we would have one and we could ride their coattails and repeal seatbelt laws all at the same time.we have got to get some people mad. george hudgins, eva albama.
Jamaica Journal, Sunday, January 09, 2005:
Seat belt use on the rise Feature Between 1996 and 2003, there was an almost 400 per cent increase in the number of Corporate Area motorists who use seat belts, according to the West Indian Medical Journal. ...... "While the implementation of (seat belt) legislation may have been expected to reduce mortality, morbidity and costs from road traffic accidents, the rate of accidents, injuries and (mortality) has increased," said the report. The findings of an observational study, conducted jointly by the University Hospital of the West Indies, the Trinidad-based Caribbean Health Research Council, the University of the West Indies' Department of Surgery, Radiology Anesthesia and Intensive Care were published late last year. The study was aimed at assessing the effect of legislation, introduced in 1999, "on driver and passenger seat belt use and the impact on road traffic accidents in Jamaica". It attributed the high usage of seat belts to the implementation of legislation that introduced penalties for driving without the safety devices (sic). But less reassuringly, it also found that the rate of accidents on the roads had almost doubled between 1996 and 2003 - moving from 6,868 in 1996 to 12,585 cases in 2003. Additionally, injury cases moved from 3,031 in 1996 to 4041 in 2003, while traffic deaths climbed from 342 in 1996 to 391 in 2003....
According to the study, seat-belt usage by private motor vehicle drivers rose from 21.1 per cent in 1996 to a high of 81.2 per cent in 2003. Meanwhile, usage by front seat passengers moved from 13.6 per cent to 74 per cent.
Macomb Journal, April 20, 2005 No seat belt saved driver By Stacey Creasy, Editor
MACOMB - Freda Prentice, 83, of Macomb, was injured in a one-car crash on Candy Ln., north of County Road 1050 North. Prentice is in McDonough District Hospital with some broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, cuts and bruises. She is expected to make a complete recovery even though the road back to better health will be a long one.
The accident occurred about 9:45 a.m. Prentice was north bound on Candy Ln. when she went off the edge of the road. Investigators claim Prentice overcorrected and lost control of her 1997 Chevy Lumina. The car went off the road and rolled several times before coming to a stop in the ditch.
Prentice told her husband Paul she was worried about a vehicle that was following her too closely. When she tried to pull over to the side of the road Prentice lost control of the car. She attempted to get
back on the road, but that is when she overcorrected and crashed the car.
Paul said if Prentice would have stayed on the side of the road she
may have struck the concrete bridge.
When the car left the roadway Prentice was tossed around and fell on
the seat. As the car rolled, it smashed the top of the car down. By
the time the car came to a stop in the ditch, the top was crushed down
to the level of the seat.
"One of the police officers said if she would have been wearing her
seat belt, she probably would have been killed," Paul said.
Birmingham Evening Mail, 1/27/88 and Lichfield Mercury,
1/29/88:
Rescue attempts could not save an elderly Litchfield couple from being burned to death
when their car caught fire after a collision outside their home. Mr. James Arnold, aged
65, and his 67 year old wife Hilda died when their Mini burst into flames after it had
been in collision with a City Cars taxi. The impact of the accident split the car's petrol
tank, which led to the fire. It also sent the car careening out of control and colliding
with a wall before the mini came to rest against the front of an oil tanker travelling
from Litchfield. The tanker was not damaged. Passing motorist Adrian Taylor, of Armington,
Tamworth, was the first on the scene and attempted to cut Mr. Arnold from his seat belt
using an axe from his car, while his brother Ian used a mobile telephone to call emergency
services. Mr. Taylor, a 30-year old self-employed haulage contractor, said, "The seat
belt was holding the man in the car and I could not get him out. He was covered by
flames".
Omaha World-Herald, October 17, 1990:
In my 20 years of doing surgery - and I was In Vietnam for a year - I have never seen
an injury this severe and the patient survive. The seat belt literally cut her in two.
Dr. Charles Feldstein, Eden Hospital Medical Center (Castro Valley, California)
London Evening Standard, 8/14/87 and Daily Express, 8/15/87:
GIRL BURNS TO DEATH
A screaming mother watched helpless as her toddler burned to death, strapped in the back
seat of a car yesterday. Four year old Tonya Rawson was engulfed in flames as her parents'
Austin Metro turned into a fireball. Her mother, Avril, 34, was dragged away from the
blaze with serious facial burns after trying to free her only child.
Both Mrs. Rawson and her child were trapped in the car by their seat belts when the fire
broke out.
Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology
University Hospital
Lausanne, Switzerland CHUV BH10 1011
Case 542 - ( report by) M. Wintermark, P. Schnyder
Also in: Radiographics, January 11, 1991, pp. 23-36: "Seatbelt Injuries: radiological findings and clinical correlation" by: C.W. Hayes, W.F. Conway, J.W. Walsh, L. Coppage, and A.S. Gervin. Department of Radiology, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23298
Excerpt: .....(The) seatbelt syndrome includes thoracic injuries resulting from the deceleration against the seatbelt. Clinical features include mammary hematomas, clavicle fractures, rib fractures and flail chest, sternal fractures, bilateral lung lesions, cardiac injuries, aortic injuries, liver and spleen lesions and thoracic spine fractures.
London Evening Standard, February 1, 1984:
TEENAGER TRAPPED BY SEATBELT AFTER CANAL PLUNGE
A teenager stood next to two men and said, " Without them I would have died".
Paul Baxter, 19, was trapped by his seat belt after the car in which he was a passenger
plunged into a canal. But the former Navy man Brian Roberts and his houseboat neighbour
Steven Dunn, dived into the Grand Union to rescue Paul and the car driver. They dived
again and again and finally managed to cut Paul free with a kitchen knife. BUT THEIR
EFFORTS TO SAVE THE DRIVER, JASON O'CONNOR, 18, FAILED.
Deartment of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology
Klinikum Ingolstadt
Krummenauerstrasse 25
85049 Ingolstadt, Germany
Case 677: (Report by) D. Vorwerk and H. Gunselman
The patient was involved in a traffic accident.....He was wearing a seatbelt.....
Diagnosis: Traumatic rupture of the right internal carotid artery with pseudoaneurysm and
bleeding.
Discussion: Origin of this traumatic carotid artery rupture is most likely due to a
whiplash injury by the seatbelt....
The patient underwent successful emergency surgery for direct repair of the carotid
rupture.
Note: The carotid artery is the chief artery which passes up through the neck and supplies
blood to the head.
From the London Daily Express, 8/18/88:
Peter Jones was dragged to safety by two policemen after the family's camper van hit the
back of a lorry parked on the hard shoulder. But seconds later the camper van burst into
flames with Mrs. Susan Jones, and daughters Michelle, 15, Collette, 12, and Siobhan, 9,
still trapped inside. ....The three girls are believed to have been strapped into the
middle of the space cruiser with their mother on the front passenger seat. Last night the
two police heroes were praised by their boss, Chief Inspector Ken Langridge. He said,
"They acted exceptionally bravely in getting the driver out after slashing through
his "safety" belt with a Stanley knife. But the vehicle burst into flames before
they could rescue the mother and children".
Daily Express, 12/31/87:
A horrified woman watched helplessly yesterday as her family died in a motorway fireball.
Mrs. Sylvia Howell, 52, tried desperately to save her husband and elderly parents from
their crashed car. But she was dragged clear seconds before the Ford Sierra burst into
flames on the busy M25. Mrs. Howell, of Ferrier Road, Stevenage, Herts, was in the front
seat when their car crashed into the back of another near Egham, Surrey. But her husband
and parents were trapped by their seatbelts and were burned to death.
From pintas.com, a legal web-site. (See picture in picturegallery):
Pictured above is a 2001 Ford Escape that rolled over killing a Texas couple. During the rollover, severe roof crush of the roof pillars and roof supports. The roof and weight of the vehicle in the rollover crushed the occupants. Both occupants had their seatbelts on.
Leamington Spa Courier, 4/24/86:
THROAT INJURY
A Leamington man's throat was cut by the seatbelt of his car when he was involved in a
collision with another vehicle last Thursday morning. Thomas Alan Hardy, aged 34, of
Church Hill, Leamington, was described in satisfactory condition in Warwick Hospital.
The accident happened on the A445 Ryton Road half a mile the Leamington side of the Furzen
Hill crossroads and was caused by black ice. Mr. Hardy was driving a Datsun sports car
which was involved in a collision with a Volvo sedan driven by 31-year-old Raymond Wood of
Milton Keynes.
Croyden Advertiser, 12/13/85:
A reckless driver who helplessy watched his best friend trapped in the blazing inferno
of his wrecked sports car is still haunted by the nightmare death crash. But because the
teenage motorist was not wearing a seatbelt he was thrown clear when his Fiat sports car
hurtled into a lamp post and burst into flames, said Mr. Keith Salvesen, prosecuting at
Inner London Crown Court. But his friend, Daniel Olliffe, 19, who had been wearing a
seatbelt, was trapped in the blazing car. He died a few days later from the 95 burns he
suffered on his body and multiple injuries.
From the (London) Evening Standard, 3/10/83:
TRAGEDY OF BELT-UP GIRL
TEENAGER Karen Anderson, 17, of Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, drowned, trapped by her seatbelt,
after a car she was in overturned into a water-filled ditch, a Southend inquest heard
today. An accidental death verdict was recorded.
Detroit News, April 12, 2004, page A1
by Bill Vlasic and Jeff Plungis
Clyde "Ray" Noyes' death following a split second traffic maneuver that turned
disastrous serves as an example of how seat-belted motorists are killed when their
vehicles' roofs crush around them.
From the Birmingham (England) Post, 4/24/84:
YOUTH TRAPPED BY SEAT BELT IN BURNING CAR
A 19 year old Midland mechanic died after he was engulfed in flames as he struggled to
unfasten his car seat belt.
The Easter week-end trip to Wales by four close friends from Wolverhampton ended in
tragedy when their car went out of control on a sharp bend, somersaulted and seconds later
burst into flames. The three occupants watched helplessly as Mr. Robert Merchant tried to
free himself and he died later from burns.
Mr. Eugene O'Connor, who escaped from the back of the Talbot Sunbeam, said last night:
" There didn't seem to be anything holding him back aprart from the seat belt. I
think people should be given a choice about when they want to wear them".
"Seat Belts That Can Kill
A CBS 2 Special Report
May 9, 2004
DALLAS (CBS) A car crash in 1991 left Houston resident Marikay Lupo paralyzed from the
shoulders down. She was wearing her seat belt, dutifully, like she has always been told
she should for safety. KTVT's Robert Riggs reports:
It didn't matter. In Lupo's case, the seat belt itself was the danger because she had
reclined in her passenger-side seat. As her vehicle was smashed in a collision, the
seatbelt almost broke her neck.....
These days, the quadriplegic mother of four said, "There's nothing I can do for
myself. Nothing".
Lupo is one of an untold number of victims maimed, paralyzed or killed while wearing seat
belts as recommended by automakers and public safety agencies."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Section: St. Charles County Post, page 1
January 12, 2001
FORT ZUMWALT JUNIOR IS KILLED IN ONE-CAR CRASH ALONG INTERSTATE 70
by Anthony Shane
Brittini Sykes, 17, .....died Wednesday night in a car crash....The Highway Patrol
reported that Sykes....was killed when her black 1998 Pontiac Grand Am left Interstate 70
one mile west of Mid Rivers Mall Drive at 7:25 p.m. Her boyfriend, Jason C. Peters, 17, a
passenger in the car, was in good condition Thursday at St. Joseph Health Center in St.
Charles....Sykes was wearing a seat belt while Peters was not.
From Friedl Pfeiffer's autobiography, "Nice Goin", p.80:
"I had been driving through a downpour to Hailey, about 12
miles from Sun Valley, when my car started to fishtail. I fought the slide until the car
flipped over, throwing me right through the convertible top and into the sage brush. I was
lucky to survive with only a few bumps and bruises.... but the yellow convertible was gone
for good".
Note: If Mr. Pfeiffer had been wearing a seatbelt, the car would have landed on top of him
and he would have been crushed to death. As it was, he survived with only a few bumps and
bruises.
Chicago Tribune, November 1, 2006: A car carrying
six Proviso West Side High School sudents .... slammed into a tree Tuesday
afternoon....killing two and injuring the others. Hillside police chief Joseph Lukaszek
said the 16 year old driver and a passenger died at the scene....Lukaszek said it appeared
that only the driver was wearing a seatbelt.
(Note: Of the five passengers who were not wearing seatbelts, four survived. The driver,
who was wearing a seatbelt, was killed).
Chicago Tribune, November 20, 2006: A 20 year old Plainfield woman was
killed Friday morning in an accident in Iowa City after she apparently lost control of her
vehicle and it rolled over. Elizabeth Black was driving a 2002 Jeep....when she tried to
let traffic merge from a ramp (and) lost control of her vehicle....Black was wearing a
seatbelt.
Chicago Tribune, October 28, 2006: Hadessa A. Flora, 17, of Batavia... was killed when her car hit the side of a large garbage truck....which was travelling at about 45 m.p.h.. Her car was thrown into a nearby field, police said. Flora was wearing a seatbelt.
Times-Picayune, November 13, 2006: Two people were killed Saturday after their vehicle was struck from behind and careened off Interstate 12... when a 2005 Dodge....slammed into a 2002 Mercury Sable driven by Rainey J. Brown....Brown died at the scene. His wife, Mary P. Brown, was transported......to Louisiana Heart Hospital, where she died. The Browns were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, police said.
Grand Forks Herald (ND) February 12, 2005, Page 5
UPS Driver Fails to Yield
A UPS driver was critically injured Friday when his brown truck broadsided a pickup truck
when he failed to yield at a rural North Dakota intersection. According to the North Dakota
Highway Patrol, Steven Reidburn, 53, Jamestown, N.D ., was eastbound on a gravel road
southwest of Fessenden, N.D. at 1:25 p.m. He failed to yield at the intersection with Wells
County Road....Despite hitting his brakes, Reidburn wasn't able to avoid driving his 1994
Ford United Parcel Service truck into the right side of a southbound 2001 Ford pickup driven
by James Kreiter, 72, of Manfred, N.D.according to the Patrol. Both men were taken to the
Harvey, N.D. hospital. Reidburn was airlifted to Trinity Medical Center in Minot where he
was in critical condition Friday night, according to a nursing supervisor. Reidburn was
wearing a seatbelt. Kreiter was not.
(Note: The UPS driver was wearing a seatbelt and was critically injured. The person he hit was
not wearing a seatbelt and was not seriously hurt.)
Courtesy of WABC, New York, October 10, 2004
A fiery crash, a desperate rescue and three heroes. It happened a few hundred yards from the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge in Brooklyn. Eye Witness News reporter Ken Rosario is at Kings County Hospital in Flatbush with the story. A retired firefighter, a deputy inspector with the NYPD and a good samaritan all teamed up to try to save lives. At about 11:00 p.m. Saturday night a pickup truck from out of state lost control on Flatbush Avenue, near the Belt Parkway. The passenger was almost thrown from the wreck. Moments later, the NYPD deputy inspector stopped to help. The passenger was trying to get out of the now burning truck but his seatbelt was jammed. A good samaritan....happened to be driving by. He pulled over and used a knife to cut the seatbelt and helped drag the passenger to safety just as the truck exploded. Just then, the retired fire fighter also stopped and grabbed a tree limb to break the truck's back window to vent the flames because he realized the driver was still in the truck. But the driver was not able to make it out. The former fire fighter burned his hands as he tried to save the driver but it was to no avail. The retired firefighter was so distraught that he said that during all his years as a firefighter he spent his time saving lives and he felt horrified that he couldnt save this one. ....The passenger was taken to Kings County Hospital. His condition is not known but the retired firefighter says he's expected to make it.
Spokane,
WA. Spokesman-Review, May, 2004:
"A Spokane woman who turned 21 earlier this month was killed Friday morning in a
head-on collision on U.S. Highway 195 at Rosalia. Stephanie Calvert's compact Ford Focus
was crushed when it collided at 7.25 a.m. with a Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicle
driven by Shelley Solberg, 52, of Colbert. Calvert died at the scene. Solberg and two 14
year old boys in her vehicle were taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center.....Solberg was in
satisfactory condition.... but the two boys...were in serious condition in pediatric
intensive care."
Note: This was a real head-on collision and shows us how far removed the claims of the
seatbelt proponents are from reality. Further information was obtained from a photograph
of the accident and a telephone conversation with a reliable eye witness at the scene: 1.
The Ford Focus was so badly crushed there was nothing left of it but a mass of twisted
metal. It was even hard to tell it had ever been a car. What was left of the occupant
looked like something out of a butcher shop. Do the seatbelt proponents seriously believe
it made any difference whether this poor lady had been wearing a seatbelt or not? 2. In
spite of the maximum difference in size between the two vehicles, the Chevy Tahoe
passenger compartment was also partly crushed. (Isnt it interesting that this never seems
to happen in the "dummy tests"). The steering wheel was driven into the chest of
the driver with such force that the steering column was bent upward by about 20 degrees.
The driver was listed in satisfactory condition at the hospital. The two boys, who were
listed in serious condition in intensive care, were both wearing seatbelts. Moreover,
according to the professionally qualified eye-witness, all
the injuries which the boys received were caused by their seatbelts.(S.S.)
From the Orange County Register, November 30, 2007
ANAHEIM - A preliminary investigation has revealed a 1987 Mercedes was traveling at about 90 mph before it flew off Santa Ana Canyon Road last Friday, killing the driver, Justin Simpkins, and seriously injuring his older brother. The speed limit on that section of Santa Ana Canyon Road in Anaheim Hills is 45 mph. Ryan Simpkins, 22, who was a passenger in his brother's black Mercedes 560, remains hospitalized at UCI Medical Center in Orange. Justin Simpkins, died shortly after he lost control of his Mercedes last Friday on Santa Ana Canyon Road - not far from Canyon High School where he graduated from in 2005.
"Witnesses on the roadway indicated that it appeared the Mercedes was racing another car," said Sgt. Rick Martinez of the Anaheim Police Department. The Mercedes careened off the road and slammed into a telephone pole. Justin Simpkins was trapped and was pulled from the car by a police officer and a passerby just before it burst into flames. Ryan Simpkins was ejected from the car, Martinez said. The driver of the other vehicle, a gray sedan, stopped after the crash and was questioned by investigators. His identity has not been released and he has not been arrested.The two drivers had been friends since high school. Investigators are continuing to interview witnesses, Martinez said. Martinez said there have been other speed related accidents in the area: "When there is a collision it's usually a high-impact collision because people are driving double the speed limit."
Comment: Notice that the driver, who was "trapped" in the car, was killed, while the passenger, who was ejected, survived. While the story does not say why he was "trapped", whether by his seatbelt or by the vehicle being crushed, it hardly matters in this case because when you hit a telephone pole at 90 mph the vehicle is so badly crushed that there is no way you can survive in the car, with or without a seatbelt. Had he not been crushed, however, the force of the seatbelt on his body would have been enough to kill him. Notice that the victim was pulled from the car just before it burst into flames. In this type of crash, the impact almost invariably jams the seatbelt buckle, so that had the driver survived the crash and had rescuers not been at hand in a timely fashion, he would have been burned alive.
From www.cnn.com, October 18, 2007:
Two children trapped in a sinking minivan are alive (but in critical condition, ed.) thanks to the efforts of five good Samaritans who jumped into a retention pond near Walt Disney World and saved them."The van completely became submerged. It was really, really scary," one of the rescuers said. "For the quick reaction that these good Samaritans had, they saved these kids' lives," Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Kim Miller told CNN affiliate WKMG-TV of Orlando. "It is anyone's worst nightmare. We know what can happen if kids are under water." The Nissan Quest plunged into the pond off U.S. Highway 192 on Wednesday afternoon when a spare tire blew out, causing the driver to lose control, the highway patrol said. The westbound van was carrying five people. The driver, Ermarie Otereo, 24, and two passengers, Sulane Suero, 21, of Orlando, and Ivan Rivera, 6, of Kissimmee, were able to escape the submerged minivan, WKMG reported. But Niomy Rivera, 3, of Kissimmee and Derek Rivera, 1, of Kissimmee, were trapped under water for as long as seven minutes, the station said. Witnesses said Otereo was screaming for help, saying her babies were in the car, The Associated Press reported. The good Samaritans saw the sinking van and jumped in to save the children. "I screamed for a knife ... and I went in and cut up the seat belts on the car seat to get the baby out," rescuer Elliott Ramos told WKMG. "I was feeling the baby's body. He was motionless, so I'm trying to put my hand underneath the belt, so I could cut it without injuring the baby," Ramos told CNN affiliate WESH-TV of Orlando. "I was just fearing for somebody's life ... I was praying to God, please let these babies live, please let these babies live. Thank God we got them in time." Another rescuer, Robert Wright, told WESH he was on his way to pick up his children when he saw the van go out of control and plunge into the pond. Wright said he didn't think twice about stopping to help."The mother was yelling that her babies were in the car," Wright said. "The van completely became submerged. It was really, really scary. You couldn't see anything. It was totally black underwater. We couldn't get the seat belts loose from the kids. It was pretty bad," Wright said. All of the occupants were taken to hospital, AP reported. Niomy and Derek Rivera were in critical condition at Florida Hospital South on Thursday.
Note: Because the children were trapped under water by their seatbelts for as long as seven minutes, it is likely that they suffered permanent brain damage, even if they survived. If the "good Samaritans" had not been present, as is all too often the case, the children not have stood a chance.
SOME SEAT BELT VICTIMS VII
Liam Coffey -Wolverhampton Express & Star, 14 May, 1999 Trapped under water with seatbelts binding his feet. Taken to intensive care.
Colin Webb & Sheila Webb - Daily Mail
18 March, 1985 Collision with car being chased by police. Onlookers cut seat belts to get
them out while police continued chase. Colin died.
Two unnamed men - Sunday Express 10 November 1985 Hanging in seatbelts in over- turned car, alive but bleeding. Rescued by passing fireman and ambulanceman.
Caroline
Thompson & her unborn child - Eastern Daily Press, mid March, 1992. Pressure from seat belt caused fatal
injuries to both.
Gabriel Stimson - New York State
newspaper. Cardiac arrest caused by seat belt's shoulder harness.
Janet Simpson - Sunday Express, 5 May
1985 Pinned by seat belt between two front seats. Broken ribs and other severe injuries.
Un-named woman, personal account, Autumn, 1986. Following collision, seat belt pulled her intestines and diaphrarn up to her shoulder.
These cases are culled from national papers and a tiny proportion of local papers, so obviously are just the tip of the iceberg. Only newspaper reports which specifically mention a seat belt are included. In dozens of other cases, not included, the seat belt can be assusmed to be blameworthy or to have made matters worse; in such cases the words "seat belt" tend to be omitted.
SOME SEATBELT VICTIMS V
Kerry Lee (aged 10 months) Thrown forward in baby seat in minor shunt and choked on vomit. Wolverhampton Express & Star, 26 Sept 1990; Croyden Advertiser & Sevenoaks Chronicle, 27 Sept 1990
Craig Lacey - Tapped by belt when car overturned in water-filled dyke. Died. Kentish Express, 7 Feb, 1991.
Teresa Garner - Seatbelt injuries caused internal bleeding 15 days after crash. Died. Daily Telegraph & Guardian, 2 July, 1991.
Unnamed man and woman - Trapped by belts when car overturned into River Ouse. Both died. Independent, Daily Post and Daily Express, 2 Jan, 1992.
Rikki Jardine - Trapped by belt when car plunged into pond. Died. Daily Mail, 10 April, 1992.
Michaela Mooney - Mother failed (in effort) to undo her seatbelt when vehicle was burning. Died. Wolverhampton Express and Star, 16 Dec 1992 and 12 June 1993.
Harriet Mead (aged 22 monthds) -Drowned. Mother couldn't undo safety straps when car overturned in 6 feet of water. TheTimes, 6 Feb 1993
Pamela Hillier - Crushed against her seatbelt when car was hit at high speed from behind. The Times, 6 Feb, 1993.
Christopher and Matthew Key (4 month-old twins) - Christopher thrown from baby seat, Matthew stayed strapped in his. Both died of fractured skulls. Car hit another side-on. Daily Telegraph, 10 Sept. 1993 and 3 Dec 1993.
Mary Mullett -Died after minor road crash. Seatbelt caused bowel injury. Wolverhampton Express and Star, 25 Feb 1994
William Gill - Head-on collision. seatbelt ripped from mounting. Died of multiple injuries. Wolverhampton Express and Star, 21 April, 1994
SOME SEATBELT VICTIMS VI
The Times, 6 Sept, 1994 - Guy Wace (4) and Alicia Wace (11 months). Strapped in child seats in rear and suffered fatal injuries from side impact.
TV Quick (based on a programme) 19 - 25 Nov. 1994 - Jacky Ball. Car overturned into shallow water. Seatbelt would not release.
Kent and Sussex Courier, 2 Dec 1994 - Jo (aged 27). Spinal and multiple internal injuries when strapped in rear seat and luggage came through back seat in accident. Died.
Today, 24 May 1995 - Two British Legion coach passengers - Hanging from seatbelts in overturned coach and drowned in culvert water. (Another eight died in this much reported accident but Today was the only British paper to mention seatbelt drownings).
Kent and Sussex Courier, 14 July, 1995. Lauren MacInnes (5) - Belted in back seat and could not be rescued when car hit tree and burst into flames. (Think about this - the child screaming as it she slowly burns to death because of being trapped by the seatbelt and the relatives having to watch in helpless horror).
Daily Express, 3 Sept 1996 - Tim Phillips, his three children aged 4, 2, and 4 months plus another child aged 3. Vehicle rolled ino 15 feet of water. Mrs. Phillips and a friend dived into the water and "managed to free" some of the children (from their seatbelts) but were drowned themselves.
Daily Express, 1 Oct 1996 - Sian Hoole, aged 5. Stationary car burst into flames when hit by lorry. Mother tried but failed to rescue child. (Unable to get seatbelt open).
The Express, 12 Nov 1998 - Clare Bear - Severe injuries from accident during which seatbelt wrapped around her neck. In wheel chair permanently.
| Trapped by belt when car | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sean Barber | went into river. Rescued as | Daily Mail,12 Feb., 1983 |
| water reached chin. | ||
| Jason O'Connor | Drowned when car went into canal. | Greenford & Northolt Gazette, 3-6-83 |
| Karen Anderson | Drowned when car overturned into water-filled ditch | Evening Standard, 10-3-83 |
| Terence Hudson | Badly burned in car fire. Seatbelt release jammed. | Daily Mirror, 2-3-83 |
| Carols McKenna | Drowned. Car overturned in Fenland dyke. | Eastern Daily Press, 30-6-83 |
| Escaped from car when | ||
| Robert Merchant | seatbelt burned through but | Birmingham Post, 24-4-84. |
| died from burns. | ||
| Reginald Meggie | Died in burning car. Rescuers could not release belt. | Buckinghamshire Advertiser, 5-12-84. |
| Unnamed woman, aged 73, from Watford. | Trapped by belt when car went into R. Lyde. Rescued as water reached her face. | Daily Express, 2-10-84 |
| Trapped by belt as car | ||
| Ian Hunter | overturned in flooded field. Rescued by PC who held his | Daily Telegraph, 13-2-84 |
| head above water. | ||
| Karen Bilsborough | Trapped by belt after car crashed on to railway line. | Sunday Express, 28-10-84 |
| Lynn Fearon | Died in burning car. Rescuer could not release belt. | Retford Times, 13-4-84. |
| Peter Swearbrick | Escaped from burning car as belt burned through. | Sunday Express, 10-2-85 |
| Timothy Weedon | Cut from belt. Car overturned in flooded river. | Weekend, 21-8-85 & Sun. Telegraph, 25-11-84 |
| Paul Baxter | Trapped by seatbelt when car overturned into canal. | Standard, 1-2-84 |
NOTE. These cases have been gathered from press reports sent in by individuals, so are only the "tip of the iceberg".
Only reports which specifically mention the seatbelt have been included in this list. In many other press reports the seatbelt could be assumed to be blameworthy or to have made matters worse.
